Chapter 29

Seven Years Ago-Age Twenty-One

Most people on their twenty-first birthday go out drinking with co-workers and friends. They get drunk and rowdy and loud, enjoying the milestone in their life. It's probably, of all the birthdays in life, the one remembered with the most fondness.

But I hadn't done that today for my birthday. Instead, I'd stayed home with Daddy, who needed someone with him nearly every minute now-a-days. I looked across the living room at him sleeping in the recliner. His frail frame was huddled under a massive amount of blankets, because no matter what I did, he was always cold. He barely ate due to the chemo making everything taste bad and upsetting his stomach. He didn't even look like my Daddy anymore. And today, he'd made the decision to stop treatment. According to him, it was delaying the inevitable.

I brought my knees to my chest and burrowed deeper into the couch. Earlier, after attempting to spoon-feed him some chicken broth, I tried to get him to lie down i